US State Department Rejects Plan To Protect Exchange Students

Despite dozens of allegations of neglect and sexual abuse over the years, the U.S. State Department has scrapped a plan to require FBI-based fingerprint searches for people hosting foreign high school exchange students, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The federal agency in recent years considered but dropped a plan to require FBI background checks similar to what’s used by the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts because it wasn’t “feasible,” according to the State Department documents.

By not doing so, the State Department has sent the wrong message, especially at a time when cases of mistreatment and sexual abuse continue to surface, advocates said.